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126. Цветочницы. Flowers are the mementoes of an earthly paradise. They are said to be "the alphabet of angels, whereby they write mysterious things"—the mysteries of God's love and goodness. Earth would be a wilderness without them. Girls sell flowers most profitably at opera houses, theatres, and other places of amusement. They buy of those who devote themselves to the raising of flowers, and arrange them into bouquets. A number dispose of flowers on Broadway; and, summer before last, I observed a French woman at the Atlantic ferry selling bouquets to people waiting for the boat. A florist told me he disposes of flowers to girls who make up bouquets and sell them. One of them pays $500 rent for her room. It yields a handsome profit when a person has a good stand. He would like a stand at the opera house, but a great many others are looking forward to it. Some pay for the privilege, others obtain it by being known to the managers. I was told by a man who supplies bouquets that he pays to florists from $8 to $10 a day for flowers, and then makes up his own bouquets. I have been told that at some hotels in Germany, girls pass around the table at dinner, and give bouquets. Such recipients as feel disposed, pay a small sum.

127. Фруктоводы. If American women would only turn their attention to the cultivation of fruits and flowers for market, instead of giving it up to ignorant foreigners, how much better it would be! A few hundred dollars would make a very handsome beginning; and those who do not have so much at their disposal, could get their friends to advance it. At Shrewsbury and Lebanon, much fruit is put up by the Shakers, and sent to New York for sale. Women might have orchards, raise fruit, and send it to market. Mrs. D. owns a farm, and does not disdain to graft fruit trees, superintend their planting, gather fruit, send it to market, &c.; and she realizes a handsome profit. The grafting and budding of fruit trees might be done very well by women, and also the budding of ornamental shrubs. "Miss S. B. Anthony," says the Binghampton Republican, "resides at Rochester, and supports herself by raising raspberries from land given to her by her father." I have been told that on one acre of land near New York city a thousand dollars' worth of strawberries can be grown. In New Jersey and Delaware, women are employed to gather berries for market. If a lady is within a few miles of town, and has facilities for raising and sending fruit to market, she will not be likely to fail in meeting with ready sale. Berries bring a good price in the markets of a city. In Cincinnati, from May 21st to June 1st, 1847, 5,463 bushels of strawberries were sold, and near St. Louis is a gentleman that has some hundreds of acres of strawberries in cultivation to assist in supplying the St. Louis market. The drying of fruit affords employment, and generally well remunerates time so given, if carried on extensively.

128. Продавцы фруктов. Flowers are formed to please the eye and indulge the fancy; but fruits are a healthy and important article of food. Some women sell fruit in market; some, at stalls in the street; some, in fruit shops or groceries; and some, from baskets, going from house to house. Most dispose of small fruit, such as berries—some wild and some cultivated. The ferries in large cities are very good stands for sellers of fruits and sweetmeats. Places of amusement and the entrance to cemeteries, are also. I talked to one apple woman, who says her business is a slavish one. Her stand was at the Atlantic ferry, New York. When she goes to her dinner, she gets the gate keeper to mind her stand. She earns, on an average, $1 a day. She rises, gets her breakfast, and starts to market by five o'clock. She remains at her stand until nine o'clock at night. She sells the greatest quantity of fruit in the spring and fall, when people are most apt to be making money, and so permit a little self-indulgence. She sells least in winter. I saw a woman on the street selling fruit and flowers. When she is out all day, she can generally earn from fifty cents to $1. Another fruit seller told me that she makes a good living. She has been at her stand eight years. She sells most fresh fruit in summer; and in winter, about the holidays, most dry fruit and nuts. In the coldest weather she remains in her basement, heated by a stove, where she stores her fruit at night. Her grapes are brought in on the cars, put up in pasteboard boxes. Her location is excellent, for the working class of people pass in the evening, returning from work, or in their promenades. I talked with an old woman at an apple stand, who told me she often sells $1 worth of articles in a day, but seldom makes a profit of more than half. She sells most fruit in summer, but most cigars, candy, and nuts in winter. She says there is a stand on every block, in that part of New York. Hers is a good location, because so many men pass. In wet weather, she does not sell much. She is shielded in winter, by sitting in a hall near, where she can keep an eye on her stand. She lives near, and while she goes home to dinner, her husband sells for her. An apple woman, in New York, told us, she has kept her stand in Washington park for seven years. She remains at it all the year. If any other fruit vender should trespass on her bounds, a policeman would soon send him or her off. Another old woman, keeping a fruit stand, told me she makes a comfortable living at it in summer; but in winter she stays in a confectionery store, and gets $10 a month and her board. At another fruit stand, on asking the old lady how she got on, she burst into tears, and replied, very poorly, scarcely made enough to keep her alive. A professional honor exists among fruit women, and a desire to sustain each other in their rights. A wholesale fruit dealer writes me that it takes from two to four years to learn the business, when carried on extensively.

129. Садовники. The strength and energy of people, in northern climates, have led them to excel in the rearing of fruit—not in imparting a more delicious flavor, but in the quantity, the fulness, and the size of the fruit. In the balmy air and under the sunny sky of the South, vegetation develops more rapidly and more luxuriantly. He who adds to the list of beautiful and fragrant flowers, or improves some variety of fruit, enlarging, or rendering it more luscious, will be remembered as a benefactor. Gardening is a pleasant and healthy occupation to those that love outdoor life. A woman can no more be healthful and beautiful without exercise in the open air, than a plant can when deprived of air and light. We learn, from Mr. Howitt's "Rural Life in England," that "there are on the outskirts of Nottingham, upward of five thousand gardens, each less than the tenth of an acre. The bulk of these are occupied by the working classes. These gardens are let at from half a penny to three halfpence per yard." German women are often employed, near cities, to weed gardens, gather vegetables, and other such work. "In Hereford, England, there are no fewer than six annual harvests, in each of which children are largely employed: 1, bark peeling; 2, hay; 3, corn, 4, hops; 5, potatoes; 6, apples; 7, acorns. Add to these, bird keeping in autumn and spring, potato setting and hop tying, and the incidental duties of baby nursing and errand going."

130. Производители кордиалов и сиропов. Women who live in the country, and have small fruit, would find it pay well to make cordials, berry vinegars, &c. There are some establishments where it is made, and women are employed to gather the fruit. The people of the Southern States have depended on the North for these articles, but we presume a change will be wrought. The abundant growth of small fruit in the South will enable the South before long to meet the demand. We think there will be many openings of this kind, in the South and West, for many years to come. Some manufacturers of ginger wine, bitters, syrups, cordials, and grape wines, write: "In reply to your circular we say—We do not employ any women in our business, although we indirectly furnish employment for several hundred, during the various fruit seasons, in gathering most kinds of fruit, which we use in our business. Many of these fruits are wild, which we buy at a specified price. The gatherers control their own time, and their earnings will vary from fifty cents to $1 each, per day. It would probably require the labor of about six hundred for six months of each year, in gathering the amount of fruit which we use. But as we do not directly employ them, or know anything about the general business of those thus employed, we are unable to give further particulars."

131. Сборщики кореньев, коры и семян. When the grass is bowed by the sparkling dew, and the hills shrouded in mist, plants exhale most freely their sweet odors. They are then gathered and sold to manufacturers, who prepare from them oils, essences, and perfumeries. An old Quaker lady on Tenth street, Philadelphia, keeping an herb store, told me that she purchases her herbs mostly of men, but some women do bring them to sell. It requires a knowledge of botany to gather them, and the stage of the moon must be observed. Digging roots, and gathering plants, at all seasons, is a hard business. At another herb store, I learned that the prices paid gatherers depend much on the kind of herb, the difficulty of obtaining it, and the season when it is gathered. A woman may earn $1 a week, or she may earn as much as $10. The roots and herbs are bought by weight. Many are purchased fresh in market, but some of the gatherers dry them. They are sent from different parts of the Union to the cities and towns. One told me that she would rather purchase herbs and seed put up by women, for they are neater and more careful with their work. She sells most in spring and fall. An Indian doctress told me barks must be gathered in the spring and fall, when they are full of sap; and roots, when the leaves are faded or dead. She sometimes makes $20 worth of syrup in a day. She says the business requires some knowledge of plants, experience in the times of gathering, amount of drying, &c.

132. Упаковщики семян и трав. In a seed store in Philadelphia, we found, they employ women in January and February, at $2.50 a week, to put seeds up in paper bags, seal them, and paste labels on. They go at eight in the morning, and remain until dark. At a large drug store in Philadelphia, we were told they employ nine women. They have seven distinct branches for the women, and separate apartments for each branch, consisting of weighing and putting up powders, sorting herbs and roots, putting up liquids, &c., &c. The women earn from $3 to $5 a week, and spend nine hours, from eight to six, having an hour at noon. In busy seasons they remain till eight or nine, and receive additional wages. There is nothing unhealthy in the business. They are paid $3 a week from the time they are taken to learn, and deduction made for absence. A seller of botanic medicines in Boston writes me: "He employs women in putting medicines in small packages for the retail trade, bottling the same, and labelling. He pays $5 a week to his women, and $3 a week while learning, the time for which is six months. Common sense, neatness, and integrity are the qualifications needed. The girls work from nine to ten hours. He will not employ any but American women. He pays men $8 or $9, because they can take them off, and put them upon work that girls cannot do. Women would be paid better if they were stronger, and did not need so much waiting upon in the way of lifting and arranging their work. Rainy days they want to stay at home, or, if they come, it takes half a day for them to dry their clothes. Men they can depend on in all weather. Women might keep their books, if their crinoline was not too extensive: that alone would bar them from the counting room. Women are inferior only in physical disabilities. Girls are good for nothing until after sixteen years of age; and nine in ten will get married as soon as they are fairly initiated in work—hence the time spent by women in acquiring a business education is to a certain extent lost—lost to their employers, but of assistance to them in the education of their children." Mr. P., botanic druggist says: "There are but three establishments in New York, for this business, and twelve women would be quite enough for them. They put up herbs in packages. One day's practice is enough for a smart person. The women are paid from $3 to $5 a week." At the United States Botanic Depot they employ one girl, and pay her $4 a week. She only works in daylight. Mr. J. L. employs two girls to put up botanic medicines. He has men to cork the bottles. They work ten months in the year. Nothing is done in December and January. They pay $4 a week, of ten hours a day. In Louisville, St. Louis, and Cincinnati, few women are employed in this way. Some seedsmen and florists near Boston employ four ladies in enveloping seed. One of the ladies writes: "We presume more ladies are employed in Europe to put up seed than in this country. The employment is not unhealthy. We are paid 6 cents an hour, and work by the hour. To learn the part the women do, requires about two hours. Judgment is most needed. Employment of this kind is increasing, there is a demand for female labor in the seed department." A seedsman, in Rochester, writes: "We employ six women in making paper bags, paying 25 cents per hundred. Boys are employed at about the same wages. We have work from July to January. The girls take their work home. We use some boys, because their work benefits their families equally as much."

133. Продавцы домашних животных. In Paris there are stores for the sale of dogs and cats. In London, the sale of dogs is mostly on the streets, or at the residence of the raiser. The aristocracy of England maintain 500,000 dogs and a large number of cats; consequently food must be provided for them. The sale of birds is common. Gold and silver fish, white rabbits, Guinea pigs, squirrels, tortoises, fawns, lambs, and goats, are sometimes sold in seed and flower stores. Flowers and birds are the favorite pets of ladies in the United States. Everything of this nature is sold to some extent in the markets and on the streets of our cities, but generally at the houses of those who devote themselves to the business.

134. Виноделы и виноградари.

Many persons are becoming interested in the culture of the grape; and some are spending time and money in experimenting. Longworth of Cincinnati has realized a fortune from his operations. Belle Britain says: "In Longworth's cellars are 700,000 bottles of wine. Mr. L. informed her (?) that we have in this country at least 5,000 varieties of the grape, and his vineyards yield from 600 to 700 gallons to the acre." The color of wine depends on the color of the grapes from which it is made. In several of the States, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Alabama, vineyards are flourishing, and many new ones are being planted out. The variety of soil and surface in our country is such that there is every probability of success. As yet, only two kinds have been much grown. No doubt a large number of women will, in the course of a few years, be employed in the cultivation of the vine and the manufacture of wine. One can soon learn, with a few instructions in each season, the proper culture of the vine. A great deal of the work in the vineyards of France and Switzerland is done by women. Women do better that men, because their fingers are smaller and more nimble. The want of intelligent culture has been the greatest barrier in the introduction of graperies into our country; but such is the number of foreigners now among us that have a practical knowledge of the business, we need fear no want of workmen. Many, too, have not been willing to invest capital in an uncertain enterprise. Wine manufacturers in Orange county, N. Y., write: "We have not employed women to any great extent in our business. There are some branches of the business in which women might be suitably and profitably employed, where those branches are extensively carried on. The bottling process, including cleaning of bottles, filling, putting on foil, labels, &c., could be done by women as well as men. Women could pick the grapes, and cull out the green and poor berries, and prepare them for the press. They are employed for this purpose in Europe. The reasons why we have not employed women in these branches are, we bottle not more than one sixth of our wine; we manufacture principally for church communion and medicinal purposes, and the principal demand for those purposes is by the gallon—consequently we send it out mostly in casks. (Some wine growers bottle all.) The men, whom we necessarily employ by the year or month in the cultivation of the ground, vines, &c., are of course employed in the season of the vintage, bottling, &c.; and in hurried times, such as the time of picking the grapes, we get such additional help as is easiest obtained, generally boys and girls, with sometimes women. Women are in such demand here for household labor, that, unless sought for at the proper time, March and the 1st of April, and hired for the year, it would be almost impossible to obtain them. The wages generally paid are from $5 to $7 per month, mostly $5 and $6." Another grape grower writes, in answer to a circular: "I do not employ female help in my business, except for a few weeks during the time of tying up the vines and in gathering the fruit, for which I pay 50 cents per day, without board. Women might be employed to quite an extent in this business, which is increasing in the country to a wonderful degree."

ВЫРАЩИВАНИЕ, ПРОИЗВОДСТВО, ПРИГОТОВЛЕНИЕ И РЕАЛИЗАЦИЯ ПРОДУКТОВ ПИТАНИЯ.

135. Пекари хлеба. Nearly all the bakeries in New York are attended by women. I could not learn of any women being employed in bread bakeries to mix or bake, but they are in Germany and France. In France the bakehouse girls enter ovens heated often to 300°, and, it is stated, sometimes to even 400°. Bakerooms are usually of such great heat as to be injurious to the health of any but the strongest and stoutest. Some establishments have day and night bakers. The night bakers are up all night, and must have their bread ready by 5.30 A. M. The day bakers go in at 7, and turn out a batch of bread at 11 A. M. Bakers spend on an average seventeen hours at their work, and this no doubt accounts partly for the absence of women from the occupation in this country: seventeen hours out of the twenty-four are too many for any woman to be on her feet. In this country the bakers are robust, hearty-looking men, and mostly Germans. Their average wages are $6 a week. Some bakers have a scaly eruption produced by frequent contact of the skin with flour. Inhaling the flour in mixing bread I have heard is unhealthy. Some women might object to working in the same room with men, and baking is certainly very warm work in summer. In most European cities the price of bread is regulated by the Government. The cost of materials and the state of the market regulate the price. A fine is the penalty for a violation of the law. In this country, bakers regulate the price of bread by the kind and quality. No law is enforced specifying prices. Some years ago an attempt was made in New York to have bread sold by the weight, but the bakers all opposed it. They might have been tempted to put something heavy in the flour. In large cities some establishments are devoted to one branch only of the business. Baker's bread is more used in free than in slave States. In Northern cities some families prepare their bread, cakes, pies, and meats, and send them to bakeries, where for a small sum they are cooked. It saves a vast amount of labor. Some bakers use potatoes in making up wheat bread. I never knew of rice being used by bakers in this country, but know it is by some bakers in Paris. The modes of baking bread, and the kinds of bread used, vary not only in different, but in the same countries. "Some bakers give the impression their bread is made by women," said a lady in a bakery, to us, "but it is not. A woman could not make up two or three barrels of flour in a day. Men are just as neat bakers as women could be." At three bakeries I was told by the employers that they pay their girls who attend the shop $7 a month, and board them, but do not have their washing done. From several girls that stood in bakeries I learned that they received from $6 to $10 a month, and their board. Only one of the number got her washing done without extra expense. The girls were expected to keep the counters, waiters, jars, and floors clean. They must be in the bakery by 5 o'clock A. M., and stay until 10 P. M. Some women require the girls to sew when not waiting on customers, and some require them to sweep and keep the room clean, and some even to wash the shop windows. Girls that stand in bakeries receive no better compensation than house girls. A foreman of the baking department, generally receives $8 a week, and his boarding. Girls are usually paid from the time they enter. A knowledge of reading, writing, and figures is considered sufficient. I was told by one lady in a shop that girls attending bakeries usually receive from $8 to $10 a month, with board, and some, also, get their washing done. They are not required to keep the books for those terms, and the bakeries are few in number where female employees keep the books. I was told by an Irish woman that in Ireland there are few or no women attending bakeries and groceries. At one bakery a girl told me she finds it very bad to be on her feet all the time. She could not stay constantly in a bakery for one year at a time, she gets so weak from excitement and fatigue. She says most Germans keep their bakeries open on the Sabbath; but the Americans have too much respect for the day to do so. On Saturday night, bakeries are often open until 12 o'clock, and sometimes later.

136. Пивовары. I wrote to a lady, whose name I saw in a directory as a brewer. She replies: "You wish to know if I work at brewing, personally. I do not at present, but have done so, and worked hard the man's part; but my means are such now that I can do without. I have men employed, and a clerk, &c., &c. I am a widow, and superintend my business, and understand all that is connected with it. I suppose it is not necessary to dwell longer on the subject, as I am out of the working part now. I am sixty-two years of age."

137. Производители сладостей. "There are three hundred confectionery manufacturers and retail dealers in New York city. Twelve establishments are devoted exclusively to the manufacture of candies. In some, as many as a hundred hands are employed in busy times. During the busy season, there are engaged in the manufacturing houses about five thousand persons of both sexes, though a very much larger number, probably some thousands, are indirectly supported by it, the paper-box makers being generally busily employed, and many children gaining a livelihood by hawking candies through the streets. The city of New York is the headquarters of the confectionery trade, supplying as much as all the rest of the Union together, and distributing the results of its industry to all parts of the United States, as well as to Canada, most of the West India Islands, Mexico, Chili, and many other places. It is estimated that fully $1,000,000 worth of confectionery is made annually in this city; and by that term we mean preparations of sugar, chocolate, jujube paste, &c., but exclude many articles such as ice creams, jellies, blancmanges, pastry, and other delicacies, which would sum up this amount to perhaps double. Two of the principal houses manufacture daily between them four thousand pounds of candies, at prices varying from 14 cents to 50 cents per pound, the average being about 20 cents." The coloring matter of foreign candies is generally showy, and of a poisonous nature. That of American manufacture is not of such brilliant and permanent colors, but more regard is paid to health in the selection of coloring matter. At confectioners' in London, classes of young ladies are taken and taught the art of making confectionery. Some candies are made by stretching over a hook, some must be shaken in a pan over a charcoal fire, and rolled on tables with marble tops. I was told at S. & P.'s (a wholesale house) that they are most busy from August 1st to 20th of December, and from March to June. They take learners for a week, to see if they are fit for the business, and if they are, reward them for their time. It takes but a short time to learn the part done by girls. They pay experienced girls from $3 to $6 a week. The girls work ten hours a day, and if longer, they are paid extra. Lately they have kept their girls until ten o'clock at night. It requires taste and invention to envelop fancy confectionery, but is not very reliable for constant employment. S. & P. employ ninety girls in busy times. At another place I was told they will not take Southern orders, for the Southerners will not buy, and have not the money to pay, if they would. The fancy candies go through three or four processes, and so the girls must work in the same room as the men who paint them. The girls sit while at work. R. pays by the month, and keeps his girls all the year. He says labor is more poorly compensated in New York, in proportion to the rates of living, than in any city in the Union. He thinks some girls should go from the cities into country places, and enter into service. H. says a person of any intelligence can learn in two or three months to paint candies. He used to employ girls to put gilding on, paying $2 a week—ten hours a day; but if a girl can paint well, she can earn $4 or $5 a week. He knows several German girls in the city that do. The candy flowers, he says, are made by hand, the fruit moulded. A lady confectioner told me that a woman who ornaments fancy candies is poorly paid, and it is dirty, sugary kind of work. Yet she acknowledged that candies must be kept on a clean table and handled by clean hands—otherwise they would not look well, and consequently not sell readily. The wives of German manufacturers do most of that kind of work. A confectioner told me, candy is never made in this country by women, but it is in England. He said the dust of the powdered sugar and the gases of the coal render it unhealthy. In large establishments most candy is made by steam. The making of candy he thought even too laborious for men. The teeth of candy manufacturers are often decayed from the frequent tasting of heated sugar. One candy manufacturer writes me: "We employ six girls in making candy, and do not think the business unhealthy. Wages range from $1.25 to $4.50 per week—ten hours a day. Men's wages are from $4.50 to $9. It requires from three to five years for men to learn. Women's part is learned in one year. The prospect of employment is good for a limited number. Fall is the best season, but they are always employed except during part of the winter. In some branches of the work women excel." At a manufactory of gum drops and candy rings, I saw a boy who receives $3 a week for making the rings, and a girl who receives $2.75 for picking gum drops, i. e., loosening the sugar in which they are incrusted while being made. They work from 7 A. M. to 6 P. M.

138. Сыроделы. A great deal of cheese is made in Central and Northern New York, and some in Ohio, Vermont, and West Massachusetts. Making cheese is a chemical operation, and requires experience. It is made in all civilized countries. I talked with an old gentleman who had been in the cheese business nearly all his life. He said a farmer's wife is the best help in cheese making. In making cheese, seven eighths of the work is done by women. A man usually places the cheese in the press, and removes it when it is dried sufficiently. The occupation is healthy. Women are paid from $1.75 to $2 a week and their board. Some people employ men, because they can go to work on the farm when not making cheese. The business can be learned in from six weeks to two months. When learning, girls give their work for instruction, but have their board. Neatness, good health, judgment, and common education, are desirable for a cheese maker. An individual must be able to reckon the pounds, weigh the salt, and regulate the temperature of the milk and curd by the thermometer. The first advice given by a lady who taught to make cheese was, "Keep your vessels clean." The prospect of employment in this branch of work is good, for it is difficult to obtain good cheesemakers. The best seasons are from the 1st of March to the last of November. The number of hours given by a girl to her work depends on the contract made—generally eight hours—sometimes ten. In most places cheesemakers have more leisure than house girls, but some employers expect them to do housework when not employed about the cheese. Some farmers hire girls who devote themselves exclusively to cheese making during the season for it. Some have the afternoon after the cheese is put in the press, and the jars, &c., are cleaned, until time to milk in the evening. The morning milking is usually done before breakfast, and the cheese made after breakfast. It requires until about two o'clock to get through. When cheese is put in a press, nothing further is necessary until it is ready to be removed. It remains in the press twenty-four hours. Most farmers have their cheese made on Sunday morning as on other days. The girls have Sunday afternoon or evening, according to contract. Some farmers do not make their cheese on Sunday, but retain the milk until Monday morning, and make it into butter. Women are best adapted to the work, and employed mostly because they can be got cheaper. The majority are Irish women. They are usually put on a footing by their employers, and eat at the same table. So little spinning and weaving are done now in the country, that the female members of farmers' families generally do the milking, unless the farmers have grown too wealthy and proud to have their wives and daughters so employed. Some dairymen make, with the aid of their families, all the cheese they use and sell. Milk should be drawn from a cow as rapidly as possible and while the cow is eating. One milker should be employed for every ten cows. Milk is very sensitive. Dairymen will make more by having the cream remain on the milk than by taking the cream off for churning, at the rate butter sells this winter (1861). Where the cream is used, an inexperienced hand would find it more troublesome to make cheese. Twenty-three million pounds of cheese were exported last year from the United States. American cheese is, in England, taking the place of English cheese. A German cheesemonger told me he makes the Limburg cheese—a preparation which has been known about eight years in this country. He was putting up some to send to New Orleans. It was very soft, and I thought the smell very offensive. He gets American cheese of a Yankee girl, to whom he pays $80 a year. She uses the milk of sixty cows. She works at it but eight months. During four months of the year but very little cheese is ever made. The arrangements of some cheesemakers for preparing the article are very complete.

139. Упаковщики кофе и шоколада. B. S. & W., Philadelphia, employ women in packing parcels of essence of coffee, spices, vermicelli, &c. They make paper cases, pour the article in through a funnel and ram it down, then label and pack the cases in boxes, which are nailed up ready for delivery. One or two persons obtain a livelihood by cutting the labels to paste on the boxes. They are paid fifteen cents a thousand for this work, and are able to support themselves by it. The women are paid by the piece, and earn from $2 to $6 per week. The work rooms are airy and comfortable. Females were formerly more employed than at present to put up coffee; but as coffee is now ground every day at most factories, and as it is considered best when just ground, less is put up than formerly. Messrs. L. & B., New York, employ girls to put the articles in papers, pasting labels on and sealing them. They work by the piece, and earn from $3 to $7 a week. The odor might be disagreeable to some, but persons get accustomed to it, and it is quite as healthy as most work. There are not over one hundred and fifty women so employed in the State of New York, yet such packing is generally done by women. It is customary to pay by the package. The girls change their dresses on coming to the workroom of L. & B. They do not work with the men, but with some boys who fill boxes with the same articles. L. & B.'s girls have employment all the year. They never have any difficulty in getting hands. I saw a man who makes up essence of coffee. A lady was assisting him to put it in papers. At another factory I was told they pay by the week, from $1.50 to $4, according to the industry, quickness, and practice of the worker. It is not unhealthy work. They give employment ten months of the year, but at present have little to do. It requires but a few weeks to become expert. In some establishments girls stand or sit, as they please, while at work; in others they are all required to assume constantly whichever posture the foreman directs. At W. & Son's two small girls are employed, who each receive $2.50 a week. There is one factory in Cincinnati, one in St. Louis, and one in Chicago.

140. Пекари галет. At M.'s the young man said fancy crackers could be made by women. In making soda, oyster, and some other crackers, the dough is kneaded by machinery. In some establishments the dough is rolled out and conveyed to the oven by machinery. In a cracker bakery I was told the women might be employed in packing and selling crackers. It would not require all the time of one woman to pack for a large bakery. A cracker baker writes us: "We employ no women, and do not see that they could work to advantage in our business." Women could do all the work now done by men in this line, but I suppose considerable opposition would be experienced, except by ladies who have sufficient capital to carry on business for themselves.

141. Изысканные кондитерские изделия. Most confectioners sell, in addition to their fancy candies, imported fruits; and a few keep cakes. Some also keep fruits preserved in brandy or their own juice; and some keep in addition pickles, oysters, sardines, &c. Some confectioners merely make sweetmeats—some sell them, and some both make and sell. In cities, confectioners usually furnish the refreshments for both public and private entertainments. A manufacturer of confectioneries in New York told me that in busy times he employs fifteen girls; but at that time (January, 1861) only half as many, for they have no Southern orders—the people in the South are doing without candies. The part done by girls requires no special training. He pays girls for their labor from the first. They pack, pick gums, envelop in fancy papers, fill boxes, &c. He pays $3 a week for those that have some experience, and keeps them ten hours a day. He gives the making and painting of fancy candies out to those that have families, and who do it at home. W., of Philadelphia, pays his girls, eight in number, $1.50 a week for the first two or three weeks, then from $3 to $4. Making common candy is said to be too hard for women. They assist in the finishing of fine candies, as rolling and covering chocolate nuts. They put the fancy candies in French envelopes, and cut the silvered or gilt paper that gives the finish. They can sit or stand as they please while at work, but while enveloping mostly sit. They work ten hours. It is rather a light business. M. employs fifty women in putting up and packing candies. He pays them, from the time they begin, $2 a week. They learn in two or three months. He pays then from $4 to $5 a week. A lady told me she was paid in one establishment $6 a month and board. A girl in a confectionery told me the prices usually paid girls are $7 or $8 a month, with board and washing, and the girl is expected to keep the accounts. A lady in another store said summer is the poorest season for confectioneries, as people do not like to eat candies, because it makes them thirsty; but in those confectioneries where soda water and lager beer are kept, there is more or less custom during the summer. They keep open till ten o'clock at night, and all day Sunday. Sunday is their most profitable day. She knows a girl that is paid $5 a month in the Bowery, with her board, or $7 without. To be kind and obliging, and have the faculty of pleasing the little folks, are the best qualifications for the business. Prices paid depend on the responsibility of the employed. Some that keep the books receive $5 a week without board, most others receive $1.50 or $1.75 per week and board. Judgment must be used in the selection of a stand. A lady who keeps a small confectionery and fruit store in Williamsburg, says she does not make much on cakes and bread, only half a cent on a loaf of bread. She says it is best not to trust any one for pay—that children often come and say they want so and so, their mother says she will pay on Saturday; but Saturday comes, and no pay; and if they go for the money, the parents will say, "Come again," and put it off from time to time, until they become discouraged, and give it up altogether. M—s, French confectionery and chocolate cream manufacturers, take learners at the proper season, which commences in August. They employ some girls to paint fancy candies. H. says one must commence at the very first step, and gradually advance—that to learn the business requires a long time. He pays four girls $5 or $6 a month each, and gives them their board, for selling confectioneries and waiting in his saloon. At S——'s confectionery I was told that the small fine candies are made by steam. They are made in pans, which are shaken back and forth over fires, the gas of which is very injurious, and cannot be carried off by flues. Their girls make so much noise, laughing and talking with the men, and waste so much time, that they are required to work on the first floor, the same as the store. They are paid from $1.50 to $2 a week. They are paid by the week, because they do their work better than if paid by the quantity; besides, it is less troublesome. They are paid for overwork (regular hours being ten), and some earn as much in that way as by regular wages. The girls pick gums, separate gum drops, put candy in boxes, &c. C. employs girls to paint, put up candies, and attend store, and pays $1.50 and $2 a week. Most of the painting is done by French and German men, who are paid from $10 to $12 a week. It requires a long time to acquire taste and experience; one, in fact, can be always improving. C. thinks girls are not likely to find constant employment in the kind of work he gives to females. A French confectioner told me he had employed a woman to make chocolate cream, paying $3 a week for ten hours a day, and could employ her all the year, as the demand for chocolate cream is very great. S. employed one girl to sell candy, paying $5 a week. She was at the store at 7.30 A. M., and remained till 6 P. M. in winter and 8 P. M. in summer. She did not keep the books, but washed the jars and case, and swept back of the counter, and dusted several times a day. Talked with a girl who stood in a confectionery store on Broadway. She knew a girl on Chatham street who received $12 a month and her board. She herself received $9 a month and her board, but not her washing. The proprietor told her she must sew for his family, when not waiting on customers. It seems that it is not an uncommon requisition. They have but few customers until about 11 o'clock, and he expected her to accomplish more sewing than a sempstress who gives all her time to it. The young lady is in the store by 7 o'clock in the morning, and remains until 11 o'clock at night. Any one wishing to commence a confectionery can learn from the wholesale dealer of whom she purchases how to regulate the prices of sweetmeats. Mrs. W. wants a girl to wait in her saloon, will give $8 a month, with her board and washing. She would be required to sew, when not waiting on customers, and would have to wash the jars and cases, keep the counter clean, and dust and arrange the articles in the window every morning. She would have to be in the store at seven, and remain until twelve (seventeen hours). In large confectioneries girls stand while picking gums used in making gum drops. They are mostly made in summer. There is now (December) a great demand for girls, as there always is about the holidays. Those now at work are kept three hours over time—from seven to ten—and paid extra. The chemicals used in making some confectioneries are unhealthy, but women have nothing to do with that, except in painting candy toys. A confectioner in Boston, who employs four American girls in attending store and making goods, writes: "We consider the occupation very healthy, never having had a case of sickness with girls while working at this business. Some are paid $3 and $4 per week, working ten hours a day; others by the quantity, averaging $1 per day. Male labor is paid for, according to the knowledge of the business, from $6 to $15. Girls could not do the work, and the work that women do it would not pay to have done by male labor. It requires a long time and a great deal of practice to learn the whole business, but that part done by women is learned in a few weeks. They are paid something while learning. Honesty, industry, and a good education are the most desirable qualifications. Spring and fall are our most busy seasons. In midwinter we do not have many at work. Retail stores require most help in summer. New York requires most hands, especially women; but the demands are now very small, the trouble at the South being the main cause. They are not strong enough to do some parts of the work. The large towns are best for our business." A lady in a fancy confectionery on Broadway told me she receives $8 a month and her board, and is paid by the month. She thinks many diseases are brought on women by having to stand so much, as they do in confectioneries, bakeries, and dry-good stores. Women that have stood in any kind of a store before, and have business qualifications, are paid while learning. There is never any difficulty about obtaining qualified hands. She finds the work very laborious, and complained of having to be in the confectionery and saloon from seven in the morning until twelve at night. In some saloons the attendants are up until 1 o'clock (eighteen hours!), and are on their feet most of the time. A confectioner in Concord, N. H., writes: "We employ from five to ten girls (because we find it most profitable) for helping make, rolling up, and packing lozenges and pipe candy. Also for standing in the confectionery. The work is very healthy. We pay about sixty-seven cents per day, and they work from six to ten hours. No man employed, except one who takes charge. There is a prospect for employment so long as children cry for lozenges. The girls are American, and work at all seasons. They are as well paid, according to the cost of living, as mechanics in this place. Women are superior to men in rolling up and packing lozenges. They pay for board $1.75 per week."

142. Торговки рыбой. In the United States, where every one has a right to fish in the rivers and lakes, there is a fair opening for those in this line of business. But it is only in the spring and fall that fish are much eaten. They are not considered healthy in the warm weather of summer. A pound of fish is said to be in nutritive power equal to eight pounds of potatoes. In the United States, according to the census report of 1850, there were engaged in fisheries 20,704 males and 429 females. The fishwomen of Philadelphia have long engaged in the selling of shad, and are to be seen in great numbers on the streets of the city, and even when not seen are likely to be heard crying fish. At one time they had a large market devoted exclusively to the sale of fish, but it became a nuisance, and the city authorities had it torn down; yet the women, possessed of strong local association, were not to be so routed. They are still seen sitting before their tables of fish in the neighborhood of where the market stood. Much money has been realized by the fishwomen, some of whom are said to own property of considerable value. What a lesson to patient industry! "From the time of Louis XIV. to the present, fish have been sold in Paris exclusively by women. They are now remarkable for the urbanity of their language and propriety of their conduct, having risen high in the scale of respectability during the last half century." "On the coasts of the department of Somme there are certain fish, the shrimps and 'vers marius,' which are exclusively reserved to the young girls and widows." On the coast of Great Britain thousands of women are employed in the herring, cod, mackerel, lobster, turbot, and pilchard fisheries. Women and children rub salt on the fish to be cured, with the hand. When cured, women pile them in stacks from four to five feet high, and as wide. Women are paid, at Newlyn, for this labor, 3d. an hour, and every sixth hour receive a glass of brandy and a piece of bread. Many are also employed in obtaining oysters and canning them; and on the return of whaling vessels, numbers of women assist in preparing the cargoes for market. In New York, fish are mostly sold by men, who drive about in a little wagon containing fish, and blow a horn, crying out now and then the kind of fish they have for sale.

143. Макаронные изделия. Macaroni is moulded and dried. Girls then pick out the whole sticks, and put them in boxes. The broken pieces are all thrown together in a barrel, then ground and moulded over. It is very easy work, and requires no learning. They are paid from $2 to $3.50 a week, working ten hours a day. The girls I saw, stood while at work.

144. Кленовый сахар. The cheapness of sugar made from sugar cane has almost annihilated the existence of maple sugar, except as a sweetmeat. The peculiar flavor of maple molasses and sugar makes them much loved by some people. The trees are tapped early in the spring, when the sap first rises. After sufficient water is collected, it is put on and boiled until of the consistence required. It is slow work and pays poorly, but can be performed by women capable of the heavy labor involved in carrying, lifting kettles, and stirring.

145. Торговки на рынках. Mrs. Childs says, in her "History of Women," "On the seacoast of Borneo fleets of boats may be seen laden with provisions brought to market by women, who are screened from the sun by huge bamboo hats. In Egyptian cities, the country girls, closely veiled, are frequently employed in selling melons, pomegranates, eggs, poultry, &c." In the southern countries of Europe it is common to see women riding to market on donkeys, laden with marketing. We learn from "London Labor and London Poor," that there are 2,000 persons employed in the sale of greenstuff in the streets of London, as water-cresses, chickweed, groundsel, turf, and plantain. The cresses are eaten by people; the other articles are sold for birds. We may divide market women into two classes—those that raise or have raised the products they sell, and those that buy to sell again. The articles of the first are generally genuine and of fair price. Vegetables, poultry, eggs, and butter, with fruit, both green and dried, are carried to market, and there the market women, placing them on stalls or retaining them in their wagons, wait for purchasers. This class mostly supply the markets of towns and villages. Their articles are usually fresh and wholesome. There are thirteen markets in New York city where everything is obtained at the second or third remove from the producer. It is estimated that there are 1,300 huckster women attending the New York markets. The members of some families are engaged in the sale of different articles: one will sell eggs; another, vegetables; another, poultry, &c. It is said that better meat and vegetables are brought to Philadelphia than to New York markets. In New York there is a larger population requiring articles of a cheap kind. We think market women, considering their habits and modes of living, probably do as well in a pecuniary way as any other class of women. Their wants are few, their habits simple, and their occupation—though an exposed one—healthy. The variety of seeing new faces, and chatting with those similarly employed, yield more comfort and content than most women's work. They take in but a few pennies at a time, yet have their regular customers, and, in prosperous seasons, many besides. I will give an extract from my diary of a visit made to several of the New York markets: "I saw some women selling fruit; some, vegetables; and some, tripe and sausage. I judge, from the appearance of most dealers, it is not unhealthy. Most of the women were far advanced in life, particularly those who sold vegetables. They all complain that they do not sell so much since the commencement of the hard times. How is it? Do people buy less, and so eat less? or is less wasted in their kitchens? or are some unable to buy meat and vegetables at all? Here I would state the remark of a druggist: that, as times are hard, people do not indulge in so much rich food, nor in a surplus of it; consequently there is less sickness, and so little medicine sold that the druggists are discouraged. This druggist has since sold out, and moved to the country. Most of the market women looked to be Irish. One strong Irish woman told me that American women cannot bear the exposure in cold weather, and rent their stalls through the winter to men. They make their appearance in March with the flowers and early fruit. Butter is sold exclusively by men in Washington market, New York, and is more profitable than anything else. There is considerable difference in the class of custom in the different markets in New York; but the poor are usually more in number than the rich—so the markets frequented by them may receive as great a profit as where a smaller number of better customers attend. Some women regulate their sales to have a percentage, but many sell for what they can get, without regard to the amount of profit. I find those selling vegetables, buy of farmers who come early, and leave a supply for each seller in case she is not there. Any vegetables they may have left are locked up in boxes, or barrels, or covered over and left on the bench. The gates of the market house are closed and locked up at one o'clock every day except Saturday, with the exception of Washington and Fulton markets, which are open all day, and the first mentioned all night. Watchmen are about the markets at all hours of the day and night, and in some markets an extra fee is paid by the sellers to secure attention to their stalls. At two o'clock in the morning, Washington market is fully lighted, and the farmers begin to arrive to sell to grocers. The grocers usually buy from four to five in summer, and from four to six in winter. Boarding-house keepers mostly buy from seven to nine o'clock. Families buy during any of these hours, or later. All the markets are open by half past three. Fulton market is rather warmer than the others because of the stoves and ranges used for making coffee, cooking oysters, &c. Ladies do not come to market so much in winter as in spring and summer. I think the vocation of market selling must be very healthy, when the venders are comfortably clad, and have stoves, as many of them do. Market women live to a great age. Vegetables injured by frost or long keeping are sold at a lower price. As a general thing, less is sold in market during January and February, than any other months. In spring time the market presents the most inviting appearance, for the stalls are then freshly painted, and flowers and fruit exhibited to advantage on them. Mrs. B. told me that a woman who sold flowers in Fulton market had made a fortune at it. Some of these sellers let other women have flowers and fruit to take over the city to sell, and reap a profit in that way. One old lady told me she always made 12½ cents profit on her goods, they being pocket-knives, combs, &c. The stalls are sold or rented. One woman told me she paid 12½ cents a day for her stall; another, 9 cents; and this must be paid for even on days when they are absent from market. Another woman told me that she got a permit for the use of a stall in Washington market when it was first built, and not long since she sold it for $1,500, and the owner pays a tax of $2 a week besides. She paid $200 for the stall at which she stood in Fulton market, and pays a rent of 75 cents a week. She makes a living by selling smoked salt fish. The processes through which produce must pass from the producer to reach the consumer, might be avoided by permitting farmers to remain longer in the city, and furnishing them with a place for their teams and produce; but now they must all leave by ten o'clock, and can scarcely feel that they have a place to put anything down while they are in the city. In England are women who shell peas and beans at so much a quart. I have seen books, spectacles, canes, pocket-books, caps, shoes, hose, china, and even old clothes for sale on the streets, and around or in the market-houses of Philadelphia and New York.

146. Продавцы мяса. In markets and in meat shops of the United States, women may occasionally be seen selling meat. They are generally the wives or the daughters of butchers. They no doubt assist in cleaning tripe, and making sausage and souse. On the streets of London are nearly one thousand sellers of dogs' and cats' meat. Most of them are men. This meat is the flesh of old worn out horses, which are bought, killed, cut up, boiled, and sold by those who make it a business. Mrs. M. told me of a woman that sells meat in the New York market. She has made a fortune by it. She stands in market, and sells, and orders her hired men to cut it up as desired. Mr. W. told me that women are employed at the pork houses in Louisville, in putting up hogs' feet, to send to New Orleans. Less meat is sold in summer than winter. I have been told that curing meat is too heavy work for women, on account of the lifting. Besides, they would get wet from the brine used; but some German and English women do pickle meat, and some even buy and sell stock. The late census of Great Britain reports twenty-six thousand butcheresses.

147. Продавцы молока. Kindness to animals always indicates something good in the heart. Life, in its every form, should be precious to us. Cows yield much less milk, and of an inferior quality, on the eastern than western continent. In Canada and some countries of Europe, the milk of goats is sold, and considerably used. In some parts of Rome it is customary for dairymen to drive their cows in every morning, and around to the houses of their customers, when the milkman draws from the cow into the vessel the desired quantity. In Belgium it is not uncommon to see milkmaids following their little wagons, containing vessels of milk, and drawn by dogs. Mayhew stated, in 1852, that in St. James's Park, London, eight cows were kept in summer to supply warm milk to purchasers; four in winter, and the number of street women engaged in the sale of curds, was one hundred. A lady called with me in a milk depot. The man has his milk brought in on the cars. Milkmen pay their women from $6 to $7 a month. They begin to milk about five in the morning, and the same hour in the afternoon, so that it may cool before being placed in the cans. Those hired to milk do house work or kitchen work in the intervals. When milking is done in the afternoon, the men that work on the farm, and the proprietor himself, assist. In some places where butter is made for market, the churning is done by horses and dogs. A milk dealer told me he sold to those who wished to sell again at cost price, four cents a quart; to other customers his price is six cents. At one depot, Williamsburg, the dealer was counting over an immense pile of pennies. His milk comes from New Jersey, seventy miles from New York. He crosses two rivers every night at twelve o'clock, to receive his milk at the Jersey depot. He sells at six cents a quart. To those who buy to sell again, his price is five cents a quart. He told me a separate freight agent is employed on some trains to take charge of the milk sent on the cars. Milk does not often sour while being brought in. Cream is brought in cans placed in large tubs of ice. He pays for freight, forty cents a can. Cream usually sells at twenty-five cents per quart. He sells twice as much milk in summer as in winter—he supposes, because it sours so easily. At shops, milk is usually sold at five cents; when delivered, at six cents. Milk is less rich in winter than summer. A milkman told me that in dairies in and near the city, men mostly milk. He mentioned one quite near a distillery. Women that take milk about in buckets to sell, have a cow of their own, and feed her on swill from the distillery, and slops from kitchens. The milk they sell is not healthy. Some of them buy a little good milk and mix with theirs. If a dairy woman's time is not entirely occupied with her business, she might in some places find it profitable to have an ice house, and send ice around with the same horse, wagon, and driver used for the sale of milk. Borden's condensed milk is boiled at a temperature of 112°, I think, and prepared in Connecticut. The American Solidified Milk Company, in New York, employ some girls in rolling, packing, and labelling. The superintendent writes: "The employment is healthy. Women receive from $7 to $8 per month, and their board. They spend twelve hours per day, including meal times, in the establishment. An intelligent person may learn in a week. There is a prospect of more being employed. All the girls we employ are Americans, except one. It is a very comfortable occupation. I find little difference between male and female labor. When I have hired men or youths, I have found them to be more habitually attentive, and less irritable; but women are usually neater. The women all board at a house, subject to the control of the Company. The price is $2.25 per week, washing included, and is paid for by the Company. The character of the house is unexceptionable, and the table is much better provided than that of most farmers living here."

148. Фарш и яблочное повидло. The preparation of mince meat might be performed by women. And it might be sold by them in stores where poultry, eggs, and butter are disposed of, or in clean, well-kept groceries. With a machine for cutting the meat, and another for paring the apples, it could be easily accomplished. Apple butter is an article that meets with ready sale in market. People that are very particular about their food only buy of those they know to be cleanly in their cooking. Stewing apple butter is laborious work. If a farmer has a cider press and an apple parer, much labor is saved in preparing the materials. In some places, apple butter is kept for sale in groceries, and in establishments for the sale of the products of the dairy. The apples that are partly decayed, and those picked off the ground, furnish an abundance from large orchards. And from orchards not accessible to market where defective fruit can be sold, there will be no want of a supply. It is sold by the pint or quart, or put up in jars holding more.

149. Упаковщики горчицы. Most of the mustard in this country has been imported, but some planters are now turning their time and attention to it. Mustard is cultivated to some extent for the oil pressed from its seed. Some factories exist in the United States. I have heard of a man in New York that used to be engaged extensively in grinding mustard with vinegar, and employed women to put it in jars, paying $3 a week. In some dry mustard factories women are employed to put the mustard in papers. A manufacturer of mustard writes: "Women are employed at some large establishments. The business is severe on persons with weak lungs, as a large quantity of steam or dust arises from packing. The work is paid for by the quantity, not the day. Women of good judgment would soon become mistresses of their work—in six months they would become good workwomen. They would probably spoil as much as their wages were worth for the first few days. When cholera and yellow fever are about, is the best time for the sale of mustard. Ten hours is the usual time for work, but in busy seasons the hands work longer."

150. Продавцы устриц. I called on a woman who makes a living for herself and five little children by selling oysters. She sells most about tea time, and on until twelve o'clock. She thinks oysters are wholesome all the year. Physicians recommend them for their patients, and many can eat them when they cannot eat anything else. Of course a real oyster saloon can only be kept in places where fresh oysters can be had. Oysters are rather hard for a woman to open. In summer nothing is done. The room, vender, and oysters should be clean, to draw decent customers. It pays well; but too often, in small concerns, the profits are derived from the sale of liquor. At a little oyster shop the woman told me she barely made a living. She keeps boys to open the oysters. She supplies families with fresh oysters, and when she receives an order, prepares them for families and sends them to the house.